Mariemont Palace was a small summer palace of the kings of Poland. It was located in Marymont, a northern neighbourhood of Warsaw, Poland. Today, nothing remains of this pleasure pavilion, and a church stands on its location.
At the behest of king John III Sobieski, a palace was constructed between 1691 and 1696 for his wife, queen Marie Casimire. [1] [2] The design was made by the Dutch architect Tylman van Gameren . [1] The palace was named ‘Mariemont’ after the queen, meaning Mary’s hill. [1] [2]
It was a charming, compact building intended to be used as a pleasure pavilion for summer times and basis to go hunting. [1] [2] It was located on a lofty embankment along the Vistula river. [1] [2] The main structure featured multiple floors and had a square layout, crowned with an elegant tented roof and an intricately designed onion dome. [1] [2] The first floor, known as the "piano nobile," served as the noble living space. [1] [2] The palace's facades were uniformly adorned with frames and decorative pilasters, creating a harmonious aesthetic. [1] [2]
In 1727, the Sobieski family sold the palace to king Augustus II the Strong of Poland, who was also Elector of Saxony. He undertook extensive renovations and established a menagerie. [1] [2] [3] The architect Joseph Christoph Naumann helped in the design of the renovations. [3] Various plans can still be found in the Saxon State main archive in Dresden. [3]
Both August II and his son, king Augustus III of Poland, regularly used Mariemont as a hunting lodge for trips into the Bielański forest and the Kampinos forest. [1] [2] [3] The hunting trips could take up to two days with more than five thousand participants. [3] In a hunting trip at Mariemont in 1724 around 700 aristocrats participated, around 200 hunters, and 4,000 peasants who helped as drivers). [3] When Stanisław August Poniatowski became king of Poland in 1764, Mariemont palace remained in the possession of the Saxon Electors. [3] They leases the palace out to various users, such as the English ambassador. [3] After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, they sold all their possessions to Prussia. [3]
In 1816, an agronomic institute was established in the grounds of the palace. [2] After the January Uprising in 1863 and 1864, the palace and the institute were transferred to the Imperial Russian Army to be used as cavalry barracks. [2] In the palace a military warehouse was set-up, and its architecture was damaged. [2] Today, nothing remains anymore of the palace. On its foundations, a catholic church has been constructed. [2] During renovation works in 2016, archaeological research has been performed. [2]